News

On the fourth night of Chanukah, Dec. 11, 25 people gathered in the Thier Conference Room for a traditional ceremony, blessings and food at the MGH’s first community Chanukah celebration.

Happy Chanukah

21/Dec/2012

STERLING

On the fourth night of Chanukah, Dec. 11, 25 people gathered in the Thier Conference Room for a traditional ceremony, blessings and food at the MGH’s first community Chanukah celebration.

“This celebration has two overlapping purposes,” said Rabbi Ben Lanckton, of the MGH Chaplaincy. “One is to give the Jewish community here at the MGH a place to celebrate publicly one of our happiest holidays of the year. The other is to provide members of the MGH community who are not Jewish a chance to celebrate with us, learn about some of our customs and traditions, and enjoy some good food.”

Lanckton lit the menorah with help from members of the MGH Jewish community, including Lauren Sterling, below, administrative manager for Vascular Surgery, who said she was honored to have been part of the event. “It felt very good to be celebrating the holiday with a community in which I spend so much time,” she said. “It also meant a lot that there were people who didn’t know what Chanukah was and came to learn more about it.”

Sterling said she and other employees who helped plan the event hope to make it an annual occasion at the MGH.

“It felt very special to be recognized by the hospital in this way,” she said.